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Meridian
Meridian is a privately held bank based in Zurich, managing wealth for a client base of fewer than 4,000 individuals. Their client portal — the primary interface through which clients monitor holdings, communicate with advisors, and review performance — had not been redesigned since 2014. Functional but dated, it had become a quiet embarrassment for an institution whose fees implied the opposite of mediocrity.
Challenge
Financial interface design sits at the intersection of two competing demands: the need for density (clients want to see a lot of data clearly) and the need for calm (the emotional register of the interface affects how clients feel about their wealth). Meridian's previous portal was dense without being calm — numbers everywhere, no hierarchy, no breathing room.
Approach
We spent the first three weeks doing nothing but auditing: every screen, every state, every interaction. We mapped 214 distinct UI patterns across the existing portal and reduced them to 38. The design system built from these 38 components became the single source of truth for the engineering team.
The visual language draws from Swiss graphic design — not as a nostalgic nod, but because the principles are genuinely useful: grid-based layout, clear typographic hierarchy, information presented in the order it is needed rather than the order it was added. We chose a typeface with exceptional numeric rendering because at this scale, the quality of the numbers matters.
The interaction model was simplified to three primary states: overview, detail, and action. Clients move linearly between them. Nothing unexpected happens.
Outcome
Internal user testing showed a 61% reduction in task completion time for core flows — reviewing portfolio performance, contacting an advisor, downloading statements. The portal went live in Q3 2024. Client satisfaction scores in the first quarterly survey post-launch rose from 6.8 to 8.4 out of 10.
Key results
214 UI patterns reduced to 38 components
61% reduction in task completion time
Client satisfaction: 6.8 → 8.4 / 10
Design system shipped in 6 months
